Via ERE.net …
Recruiting departments will continue to be under pressure to cut staff. Wayne Cascio, a professor of management at the University of Colorado in Denver, has done research on which approaches to downsizing work best. His research on downsizing can be found in his book Responsible Restructuring: Creative and Profitable Alternatives to Layoffs.
Via Business Week …
It was bad enough when Iceland got into financial trouble and practically sank into the frigid North Atlantic. It was worse when your next-door neighbor lost his home to foreclosure. But now things are really getting scary: Your own job may be at risk.
Unease turned to incipient panic on Dec. 5 after the government reported that the U.S. economy lost 533,000 jobs in November, making it the worst month for employment since the grim days of December 1974. The holiday party chatter is all about layoffs. Everyone wants to know how long the jobs hemorrhage will last and how bad it will get.
Via Yahoo Tech / Reuters …
Janel Landon, who runs a small PR consultancy in Chicago, has long been aware of the potential of online networks: now in her mid-50s and facing a global recession, she’s decided to sign up.
“Given the state of the economy, I recently decided to jump on board,” Landon told Reuters. “Professional networking is a ‘must do’ during unstable economic times.”
The economic crisis slamming firms across the globe has sparked a spike in usage of professional networks – Xing and LinkedIn are key sites — as people hedge against losing work and laid-off employees seek jobs.
Let’s hope it doesn’t happen to you, but in case you get laid off, here’s some great advice from U.S. News & World Report:
Via ZDnet …
During this period of downturn, the unadulterated waste caused by failed IT will drive layoffs as organizations cancel poorly performing projects. Although these marginal projects might have escaped the axe during better times, today they’re perfect budget-cut targets.
If you’re an IT worker, click the link below to read how to avoid becoming a layoff statistic.
Via ERE.net …
What’s a marketing manager?
Ask five people, and you’ll get five definitions. Look for resumes, and you’ll get hundreds of people doing vastly different things.
Mark Bielecki is trying to clean it all up with a new site, Joblish. (And you thought startups had used up every possible fanciful variation of the word “job”!)
Via The New York Times …
“It’s frustrating to hear ‘just get out there and meet people’ without any indication of how to do it,” Noël Ponthieux said by e-mail message. He is an American who moved to London several years ago, which meant he had few contacts to start his search for a position as a senior copywriter. “I don’t think many job seekers fail to realize that they need to meet people. Searching online is a way of attempting to do just that. But certainly we’d all like to learn more innovative and effective ways of getting a (real) foot in the door.”
Via InfoWorld …
After the consolidation wave, financial IT jobs could be cut. And cuts in discretionary projects across the board threaten many tech workers.
Fearful tech workers tiptoeing along the shaky alleys of Wall Street — and fretting about losing their jobs — should take a deep breath. Of the more than 100,000 job losses expected as a direct result of the financial crisis, only a tiny slice will likely be from the tech ranks, figures Sean O’Dowd, an analyst at market researcher Financial Insights.
Via savvysugar …
Your mom’s advice to be yourself in any anxiety-inducing situation can certainly be applied to your job search, although not all applicants have been remembering the wise words of mom. A recent CareerBuilder survey found that half of hiring managers have caught a lie on a résumé and the fibs include things like embellishing responsibilities and faking academic degrees.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) today unveiled two initiatives aimed at promoting the hiring of veterans and protecting the rights of applicants with disabilities: The Good Faith Initiative for Veterans Employment (G-FIVE) and Ensuring the Accessibility of Online Application Systems.
“The G-FIVE was created to address the employment challenges facing the veteran workforce today by recognizing federal contractors for their efforts in employing and advancing covered veterans,” said Charles E. James Sr., deputy assistant secretary for OFCCP. “It reaffirms OFCCP’s commitment to ensure compliance with the requirements of the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act and creates an excellent incentive for federal contractors to hire veterans.”
“The G-FIVE also strengthens partnerships between OFCCP and veterans groups and other agencies,” added Victoria Lipnic, assistant secretary of labor for employment standards. “It’s an OFCCP initiative that supports America’s heroes.”
The second initiative, Ensuring the Accessibility of Online Application Systems, is designed to ensure that federal contractors and subcontractors provide equal opportunity to qualified applicants with disabilities, including disabled veterans, to compete for jobs when using an online application system.
Electronic job application systems must be accessible to, and usable by, applicants who have disabilities, or the contractor must provide a reasonable accommodation that allows an equal opportunity to compete for a job.
“Nothing is more fundamental to equal employment opportunity than the opportunity to apply for a job,” said James. “As more and more employers turn to the Internet to locate and screen job applicants, this initiative is crucial to ensuring that disabled veterans and other qualified individuals with disabilities are afforded that opportunity when an online system is used.”
The directives outlining these new initiatives, along with frequently asked questions, are available on OFCCP’s Web site at www.dol.gov/esa/ofccp/index.htm.
OFCCP, an agency of the Department of Labor’s Employment Standards Administration, enforces Executive Order 11246 and other laws that prohibit employment discrimination by federal contractors.
The agency monitors federal contractors to ensure that they provide equal employment opportunities without regard to race, gender, color, religion, national origin, disability or veteran status.
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U.S. Department of Labor releases are accessible on the Internet at www.dol.gov. The information in this news release will be made available in alternate format (large print, Braille, audio tape or disc) from the COAST office upon request. Please specify which news release when placing your request at 202-693-7828 or TTY 202-693-7755. The Labor Department is committed to providing America’s employers and employees with easy access to understandable information on how to comply with its laws and regulations. For more information, please visit www.dol.gov/compliance.
